ROLFING: MOVEMENT INTEGRATION

“The way you walk across a room reveals the way you live your life.” Vivian Jaye

Rolfing Movement Integration is a system of movement education based on the concepts
developed for Rolfing by Ida P. Rolf PhD, the founder of Rolfing.

Rolfing Movement Integration focuses on developing balance and support for action
in the gravitational field, on learning to move harmoniously with gravity, and on evoking an
open and responsive body in which inner strength and centered-ness can be chosen instead of dependency
and armoring. The results for you are increased grace, ease, and efficiency of movement, a more
powerful sense of self, and often the relief of physical stress caused by gravity-resistant movement
patterns.

Rolfing Movement Integration helped me to discover different movement patterns which
I could use to alleviate a nagging ache in my upper rib cage which had resulted from ineffective
body mechanics when doing massage. Rolfing Movement also reinforced my experience of dynamic
stillness – which I had first experienced in my basic Rolfing series but which I could not own
until Rolfing Movement allowed me to discover that dynamic stillness in the way I live my life.

In a series of Rolfing Movement sessions, you and I come together to understand your current movement
patterns. We explore the possibilities for freer, more balance movement in breathing, walking,
standing, sitting, and whatever special or daily activities you are involved in, such as jogging,
desk work, housework, yoga, carpentry, yard work, driving, dancing, and the like. We attend to
each part of your body, releasing specific holding patterns, and then integrating that part,
through movement, with the rest of the body. Over time, you learn the gentle, simple series of
centering movements that can be taken into everyday life to ease pain and stress and to enhance
all activities from the work place to the playing field.

Rolfing Movement can be undertaken by itself or in conjunction with Rolfing sessions.
Combining Rolfing Movement Integration and Rolfing enhances each other: Rolfing frees and integrates
your body’s structure so you have more movement options, and Rolfing Movement enables you to
learn how to use those options in everyday life. (Adapted from the brochure: “Rolfing and Rolfing Movement Integration The Whole Body Approach to Well-Being.”)

MOVEMENT INTEGRATION FAQ

“Is Rolfing a prerequisite?”

No. However most of my Rolfing movement clients have been Rolfed.

“What do I wear?”

Street clothes – usually loosened and shoeless.

“Does it hurt?”

No. As in Rolfing, you may feel a physical discomfort; however, in Rolfing movement, you
may feel an emotional discomfort.

“What is the purpose of Rolfing movement?”

To give you options. I help you identify old functional patterns which are no longer serving
your life and help you discover new ones that would serve you better. This could be as
simple as becoming aware of the weight distribution through your “sits bones” or as complex
as exploring the ramifications of a body image through all the layers of your being.

“What am I doing?”

Participating. You may be walking, sitting, lying, and I may be holding an area of your body,
asking you what you are aware of. I may suggest images to improve function, or suggest
movements which may improve your habitual movement patterns. A movement session is like
a conversation. I’m conversing with you as you converse with your body which will converse
back to both of us.

BENEFITS:

Improves performance

Provides options

Educates

Cultivates Awareness

Decreases pain

Improves body image

David McQueen

I graduated from the New Mexico School of Natural Therapeutics in Albuquerque
New Mexico in 1984. The school was a six month residential program providing a thousand hours
of education.read more >>

Quick Links

Contact Information

What is Somatics?

I describe somatic education as discipline to change your body through my touch, my suggestions of
images which you may feel, see, or hear, and through expanding your awareness of how you function,
walking, sitting, standing.